America's Talking - Trump Walks Back Tariffs on Mexico, Canada for Another Month

Episode Date: March 8, 2025

(The Center Square) – Stocks sunk Thursday afternoon despite President Donald Trump's decision to grant major exceptions to the 25% tariffs he put on Mexico and Canada earlier this week. All three major U.S. market indexes were in the red by the time of Trump's afternoon bill signing. Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office that steel and aluminum tariffs were on track for next week without modifications. Trump shrugged off the stock losses, blaming the decline on "globalists."Support this podcast: https://secure.anedot.com/franklin-news-foundation/ce052532-b1e4-41c4-945c-d7ce2f52c38a?source_code=xxxxxxFull story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_d7e727b0-facc-11ef-934d-33617745799c.html Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to America in Focus, powered by the Center Square. I'm Dan McAaleb, chief content officer at Franklin News Foundation, publisher of the Center Square Newswire service. It's been another whirlwind week when it comes to President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods imported into the U.S. The 25% tariffs went into effect Tuesday, sending stocks lower. Then on Thursday, Trump paused many of the tariffs for another 30 days. Joining me to discuss this today is Casey Harper, Washington, D.C.

the Bureau Chief for the Center Square. Casey, there's uncertainty in the markets and the economy surrounding Trump's tariffs plans. Tell us more. I think there's uncertainty in Congress about what Trump's going to do. There's probably uncertainty even within the White House about what Trump's going to do on this issue because he has changed course so many times. He announces a tariff.

He changes it. And, you know, I think in some ways this really, whether you like it or not, this sort of is part of his strategy. Trump loves the, he thrives. in the chaos, he's able to navigate these choppy waters when others sink. I think that's how he won his elections. He created chaos and then he rode the way as well. And so it seems like that's how he's handling his negotiations with these world leaders. So there's a lot of different things here. I mean, the latest news about the tariffs being rescinded. Of course, there are terrorists in China,

that are staying in place. And that's been, you know, since 2016, 2015, Trump was campaigned on cracking down on China. I think there's general support for that. It is understood that China takes advantage of the U.S. in different ways with their currency and different things. Economically, Chinese companies have done different things to skirt American taxes for a while, and so Trump is closing those loopholes. But when it comes to, you know, the Western hemisphere and Trump putting tariffs on Canada and Mexico, it's a whole different ballgame. For one, we get a lot of energy from Canada. And so if we really do keep these tariffs on Canada, it's probably going to raise energy prices. Now, Trump has said that he's going to open up domestic drilling in the U.S., but,

you know, that takes time to pit into the markets. I mean, it's not like you drill for a barrel of oil on Friday, and that's what's in your gasoline tank on Monday. It's a long process, and it takes time for those prices to reflect. And so there could be a rise in energy prices from Canada. And of course, We import a lot from Mexico, different things from Mexico as well. So right now I think he's trying to play fast and loose with this. He's trying to be nimble. But it is, as you said, creating a lot of uncertainty. Markets love certainty.

And they're not getting it right now from Trump. And Trump also said this week that he plans to announce broader what's called reciprocal tariffs against other countries, European countries, Asian countries, et cetera, that already imposed tariffs on U.S. goods. Now, that seems reasonable to me if, let's just say, France is putting a tariff on American goods, then why wouldn't the U.S. have reciprocal the same amount of tariffs on French goods? Yes, I think you're right about it. I think the Canada and Mexico tariffs are way to me where Trump is in danger of going off track on his tariffs message,

because the heart of his terrorist message is that he wants basically economic justice in the world. I mean, that's really what he's saying is there's a fairness problem. And so when he puts, you know, slaps the tariffs on China, most Americans don't blink and I, they say great. Even if Democrats say, well, this is going to make your, you know, the cheap toys at Walmart going to cost 10% more, you know, I think, I don't think that's going to resonate as a criticism. And people want, you know, they're open to some kind of fairness. There is this general sense that the U.S. is being taken advantage of around the world.

That's why you saw such strong support for Trump cutting USA. It feels like a different issue, but really it's the same issue, which is this feeling among Americans that Trump has stoked, but was already there. He's been there for a while. That the world takes advantage of America, that, you know, we protect all these countries, but far-flung places. Sometimes, like, you know, Ukraine, it feels like they're not grateful. Or NATO, they don't pay their fair share of the defense agreements that they agree to. And we're, you know, buying, you know, we're paying for, you know, basically practically like yoga lessons in the Sahara Desert. or something, you know, ridiculous for the rest of the world. And so Trump is combating that.

So reciprocal tariffs resonate on that same America first line. As you said, it won fairness. But when it comes to punishing Canada and Mexico, I think he's going to the second half of his tariffs argument, which is tariffs can raise a lot of money. That's what Trump says. He says they can make the U.S. rich. I think the jury's out on that one. That's a harder argument to make, you know, whether it's going to be worth it,

whether you really can raise this money. A lot of economists are skeptical. The U.S. has not wielded tariffs in over 100 years in this way. So I think there's a lot of unanswered questions. The other part of it that does, I don't think it's enough attention is Trump's use of these tariffs or these threats of tariffs as a negotiating tactic to get other things. You mentioned other countries have taken advantage of the U.S. because of its economic power, because of its military power for decades. And Trump wants to equal the playing field here. And how much of this, how much of these tariffs, these threats of tariffs, are him just as a negotiation tactic? For example, Canada and Mexico. Trump said he was going to issue these, put these tariffs in place to stop the flow of

human trafficking and drug trafficking at the northern and the southern borders. How key to that is all this? You know, it's, I think it's obviously is what he's trying to do. And he has, gotten some concessions. You know, we've seen what you referenced in Mexico, Canada said. You know, even with, you know, now apparently Europe is going to be paying for like, you know, hundreds of billions of dollars for Ukraine's defense now, which is kind of incredible because we've been footing, you know, so much of that bill. And now they're upping their commitment.

And really it is, I mean, we, we care. But, you know, Ukraine's on their doorstep. But if anybody's next, it's these European countries, not us. And so we have an interest. We care and all that. But, you know, you're seeing that these other countries' appearing, I think it's also about respect. It's not just about negotiating. It can be a negotiation tactic. And the smaller, the weaker the economy, the more power we have, of course, to threaten them. And we can get some things out of that.

But I think Trump also wants us to be respected again. And that's what he's pushing. He wants to put a little bit of fear of the U.S. and these other countries. So on the trafficking thing, you know, Canada and Mexico have pledged different things. I think Trump feels like it hasn't been enough. So maybe this time around he'll be able to really get some concrete concessions. But only really in the way things are right now, only Trump can decide when these countries have done enough to satisfy him to lift these tariffs. Thank you for joining us today, Casey. Listeners can keep up with this story and more at thecentersquare.com.